VILS and Mosa Meat: Engineering the Future of Sustainable Food
A high-tech approach to food production on the cutting edge between the lab and the supermarket promises to deliver the taste and nutrition of farmed meat while reducing the environmental impact of meat production by up to 92% compared to traditional farming methods.
Technology developed by Mosa Meat, a food technology company based in Maastricht, the Netherlands, can make 80,000 hamburgers from a single 0.5 gram sample taken painlessly from a cow. At VILS, we are proud to be a crucial partner in Mosa Meat's journey from promising startup to potential industry leader in cultured meat technology.
From dispersed teams to a unified vision
When we first met with Mosa Meat, we encountered a talented small team spread across multiple locations, working in different universities and laboratory settings. Together with Mosa Meat we recognized that our first step had to go beyond designing a lab for them.
They needed a home base – a space that brought their people, ideas, and equipment together under one roof. So that their team could collaborate more effectively and scale up their groundbreaking research. Our process architects engaged deeply with Mosa Meat's scientists, to understand how they worked together and how it could be improved.
We also asked probing questions about their processes, equipment needs, and scaling plans. This in-dept understanding of the human factors influencing their collaboration and the technical requirements of their processes empowered us to design a facility that not only meets their operational needs but also enhances collaboration and drives innovation.
From ageing warehouse to a cutting-edge lab
The engagement we had from day one enabled us to transform an aging warehouse into a state-of-the-art laboratory and collaboration space that gave Mosa Meat exactly what they needed.
The project, our first EPC contract, required us to completely renovate the existing infrastructure, including floor replacement and sewage system overhaul, to meet the stringent requirements of biotech research. Our team designed and
implemented these upgrades while implementing a box-in-box design that addressed the unique challenges of the space.
We succeeded in building what Mosa Meat wanted, when they wanted it by focusing on essentials and choosing the right partners whom we integrated early in the process.
Expanding Capacity: The Second Facility
After successfully consolidating Mosa Meat's research efforts into a single laboratory space, the next phase in their growth required a leap forward: a facility equipped with small bioreactors for small-scale production and prototyping. This second step was essential for bridging the gap between laboratory research and scalable commercial production.
VILS played a critical role in making this transition seamless. By selecting and integrating the right partners early in the design phase and leveraging their team's flexibility and experience, VILS ensured that Mosa Meat could navigate the complexities of prototyping without unnecessary delays or overdesign.
This strategic approach laid the groundwork for discussions around a future full-scale production facility.
Building trust through expertise and collaboration
At VILS, we know that trust isn’t given, it’s earned. From our first interactions with Mosa Meat, we focused on understanding their processes and goals. That understanding came through the hard questions we asked early on: How do you plan to scale? What equipment do you need now, and what will you need in the future? How can we make your processes more efficient?
When construction began, trust had grown to the point that Mosa was confident in the fact that the building result would meet their expectations – even if this was the first EPC project we signed for execution. That fits our lean governance approach well. It focuses on what must be verified at every step, not reporting for its own sake. Clients see clear progress, critical path updates, and milestone visibility, with less administrative drag and more accountability on things that matter.
Mosa Meat was no exception: When they finally saw the finished facility, their feedback was simple: It was exactly what they wanted.
A shared commitment to innovation
At VILS, we thrive on challenges that require us to think beyond construction and delve into the heart of a client’s vision to bring ideas into people’s lives. Working with Mosa Meat has been one of those unique opportunities.
Together, we’ve tackled significant milestones, from organizing their team to designing for scalability. Going forward, we hope to enable Mosa Meat to push the boundaries of what’s possible, bringing lab-grown meat closer to supermarket shelves and revolutionizing how food systems can serve a sustainable future.
